UPDATE 1-Louis Freeh to chair U.S. law firm Pepper Hamilton

(Adds that Freeh will remain trustee in the MF Global case)

By Casey Sullivan

Feb 5 (Reuters) - Louis Freeh, the former director of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the trustee overseeing
the bankruptcy of MF Global, has become chair of the law firm
Pepper Hamilton LLP, the firm's leaders said on Tuesday.

The move, which follows the acquisition of Freeh and his
eight-member investigations law firm in August 2012, underscores
Pepper Hamilton's efforts to bolster its investigations
practice, an increasingly lucrative area for law firms.

Freeh, 63, said that he intends to continue recruiting
lawyers in New York, Washington and California to investigate
possible wrongdoing at companies, and that he also plans to
build on the firm's more general practices.

"I think it's much more than government investigations,"
Freeh said in an interview. "Beyond (that) there's civil
litigation and bankruptcy matters."

Freeh will continue to serve as the trustee liquidating
bankrupt MF Global, He said in a court filing last
week former customers of Jon Corzine's collapsed brokerage would
recover most, and probably all, of their money.

At Pepper Hamilton, Freeh succeeds Nina Gussack, who served
two three-year terms as chair before stepping down this month.
Gussack will continue to practice with the firm as the chair of
Pepper Hamilton's health effects litigation practice, the firm
said.

Other law firms, too, have been recruiting government
lawyers to work on investigations.

Last year, the New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Meagher,
Slate & Flom hired Patrick Fitzgerald, the former U.S. Attorney
in Chicago whose prosecutions included corruption cases against
two Illinois governors, as well as a case against an aide to
then-Vice President Dick Cheney. With Skadden, Fitzgerald
focuses on government investigations and enforcement matters.

Last month, the Los Angeles law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher
recruited Reed Brodsky, the former U.S. Attorney in Manhattan
whose prosecutions led to insider trading convictions of former
Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta and hedge fund titan Raj
Rajaratnam. Brodsky will focus on white collar defense and
general litigation.

Pepper Hamilton has more than 500 lawyers in seven states
and the District of Columbia specializing in a range of
practices including corporation, litigation and regulatory legal
services.
(Editing by Nick Zieminski)